The area was originally a small independent city, until it became Papakura District in the 1989 reorganisation of New Zealand's local governments, and has now been overtaken by Auckland's urban sprawl.

Keri Hill has pastoral lifestyle blocks overlooking Ardmore; Pukekiwiriki offered a strategic vantage point for the indigenous Maori people, but is now a popular suburb; Pahurehure has a harbourside setting on the eastern reaches of Manukau Harbour.

Drury is the first genuine country town south of Auckland, and Takanini is Papakura's main industrial zone.

Papakura District's population is estimated to be growing at three times the rate of New Zealand as a whole and is predominantly European.

[3] In addition to the local council chambers, Papakura is served by a large Police Department; one of Auckland's busiest stations, a District Courthouse, and a WINZ office.

Auckland's southern motorway and the North Island Main Trunk railway run through the Papakura District and a large airfield is located nearby at Ardmore.

Drawn by frequent services into and out of the city, rail commuters come from Papakura itself, Franklin County and the northern Waikato.

It is the busiest airport in New Zealand based on aircraft movements, and is home to a wide range of innovative small to medium-sized aerospace businesses and popular among the non-commercial aviation sector.